Revisiting Bumbu

9th July 2010. Written by Xin Li.

After an unpleasant meal at Eighteen Chefs (Yishun) and an unpleasant steak at Badoque (Simpang Bedok), there were high expectations for Bumbu since it was strongly recommended by a fellow colleague of mine and myself. Fortunately, it did not disappoint at all and the meal was not only great but priced reasonably as well around 510 SGD for 22 people after GST and Service Charge.

This time round, the dishes that did well the previous visit continued to fare well if not better such as the Tapioca with Coconut Cream (3.00 SGD) during our recent visit.

Dishes that were new to me this time round is the Pineapple Rice (8.00 SGD), served in a halved pineapple, it was slightly sweet with seafood, raisins mixed inside, the rice was cooked nicely, not complaints.

The Olive Fried Rice (8.00 SGD) was flavourful and has a wholesome herbal, Southeast Asian flavour. It came with cubes of lime and cashew nuts something different for me.

Thumbs up for the flavoursome Tom Yum Seafood (8.80 SGD), extremely rich in flavour and equally spicy, despite being a non-spicy eater, I cannot deny that the Tom Yum soup smelt and tasted really good.

The Green Curry Chicken (8.80 SGD) has a rich coconut flavour that goes very well with the free flow of steamed rice (1.20 SGD per person). The chicken was very tender and the gravy was addictive.

Cashew Nut Chicken (9.80 SGD) was quite good in terms of both flavour and texture, it was very tender and the sauce is similar to a good, slightly spicy Asian style BBQ sauce with some cashew nuts being mixed in it to provide some crunch, but there wasn’t much of a cashew nut flavour from the chicken though.

Stir Fried Squid in Black Sauce (11.80 SGD) was another well-executed dish. The sauce was slightly sour and sweet with a hint of spice, and the squid was not too tough, just nice.

The Pandan Leaf Chicken (3.20 SGD per piece) was a little expensive, but it was the star of the day. Crispy, crackling good fragrant chicken with a tender interior that was so juicy, it goes very well with the semi-fluid caramel sauce that was served in a petite jar. We had seconds if not thirds of this addictive finger-licking good chicken.

The Ice Chendol (3.00 SGD) was considered above average but still loses to the ones in Malaysia. Praises were given for its soft attap sead though.

The Tapioca with Coconut Cream (3.00 SGD) was better as an ala carte item. This time round there were more coconut cream and from the colour you can tell how good the tapioca was. The natural sweetness from the tapioca can be tasted and the coconut cream wasn’t too much or too thick to overpower the tapioca.

In the end, I enjoyed my meal at Bumbu. This is definitely one place I will bring my halal friends to. I must really compliment the great service by the management and waiting staff as well as they had been very friendly, meticulous, helpful throughout the dinner and they took the initiatives to make the experience a pleasant one by offering explanations for the food items and asking us whether we want to replenish rice, simply put, service did not stop after ordering.